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Old 09-12-2013, 10:45 AM
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Any input on any of these.

My engine light comes on in the exact spot everyday. It's when I'm coasting. No gas needed going down slight decline. No codes are being thrown. I don't have an O2 sensor and I was told that may have something to do with it. Why would the O2 be removed and what is pros and cons of it?

90 RS: going in the shop in a few hours. Put it in a few months back for rough idling and lack of HP only when it rains. If you get on the gas, it levels off. Had plugs and wires changed and distributor cap tightened. Thought it fixed it but once it rained again, same problem. Any idea of what may be causing it? Things to not believe if we're told is problem? I fell for the wires/plugs etc but really, it didn't hurt to change those.

Same car, lost park. Have to use e-brake to keep it in place. Some gears have moved to different place. Difficult to diagnose? Expensive fix?

98 cavalier (hey, it's a chevy lol) Front wheels had a wobble that you noticed more at a rolling speed. Shop said it was due to bad tires and didn't see anything else wrong under there. Had those changed. On way home, car had a popping sound when you let off brakes or changed speeds. Sounds like near the right front. Any ideas on this one? This shop has been so good for my car but last 2 times we've had cars in, they more or less came out in same shape.
 

Last edited by Dana; 09-27-2013 at 11:55 AM.
  #2  
Old 09-12-2013, 11:10 AM
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O2 sensor may be reprogrammed out of the ECM program, or left unplugged forcing the ECM to a default mode, but then, this route, the CEL should come on.

On trans, depends how much shifter is out of adjustment with trans. If short amount of misalignment, then cable needs adjusting. Either at the shifter or the trans mounting, there should be an adjustment for matching the outer case of the cable to the inner case. May need to get Camaro up on ramps and crawl underneath to look.
Place trans in neutral and unhook cable from lever, and place shifter in neutral. Then adjust casing nut aloowing pin to slide into place from cable end to trans lever.

Cavalier, could be loose brake pads. Tires do occasionally have a bad belt or separation of tread to core. Replacement of tire needed. Now since new tires are on and the ride is quiet, other noises crop up. Turn up the radio...

On the RS, don't drive it in the rain...
 
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Old 09-12-2013, 11:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Everett#2390
O2 sensor may be reprogrammed out of the ECM program, or left unplugged forcing the ECM to a default mode, but then, this route, the CEL should come on. When I first told them about CEL, they thought it was the O2 sensor but the car was on the lift when we were talking about it and he looked and noticed it wasn't there at all. Why would someone take it off?

On trans, depends how much shifter is out of adjustment with trans. If short amount of misalignment, then cable needs adjusting. Either at the shifter or the trans mounting, there should be an adjustment for matching the outer case of the cable to the inner case. May need to get Camaro up on ramps and crawl underneath to look.
Place trans in neutral and unhook cable from lever, and place shifter in neutral. Then adjust casing nut aloowing pin to slide into place from cable end to trans lever. Each gear is one behind where it should be. Ex: neutral is actually reverse. This is the car that is going in to shop later but I just hope they don't say it's something expensive and turn out to not be it at all.

Cavalier, could be loose brake pads. Tires do occasionally have a bad belt or separation of tread to core. Replacement of tire needed. Now since new tires are on and the ride is quiet, other noises crop up. Turn up the radio... It has brand new tires on. Just had them put on in July but it developed a new noise. The popping sounds serious to me. I wouldn't want to drown it out. It will go in shop when my middle son gets back from BCT. He's the one that drives it most of the time anyway. Just wondering what else it could of been.

On the RS, don't drive it in the rain... Unfortunately, that's not an option lol. They have to figure it out somehow.
Just put the bold replies in there...
 
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Old 09-12-2013, 12:23 PM
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On the 90 RS, replace the cap & rotor. Just tightening the cap isn't going to help if the issue is due to carbon-tracking, which damp air will make worse.
The Crapalier sounds like it could have a bad CV joint. We used to have one (daughters car). So by past experience with having had one, I suggest you push it off a cliff, it'll give you a far greater sense of accomplishment!
 
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Old 09-12-2013, 12:30 PM
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The cavalier has been the best car we've ever had. It's a 1 owner with a little over 100K miles and it's 15 years old. Other than the oil switch, we've never had to do anything other than maintenance work on it. This is only the 2nd thing in 15 years. It gets better gas mileage than our other cars. I wouldn't go as far as putting a new motor in it but maybe would do about anything else. Don't need any car payments right now.
 
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Old 09-12-2013, 12:35 PM
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It's a cheap car for a reason. Part of your good fortune is likely because you had it since new and took good care of it. Ours was a nickle and dime car, but took more than nickels and dimes.
 
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Old 09-12-2013, 12:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Camaro 69
It's a cheap car for a reason. Part of your good fortune is likely because you had it since new and took good care of it. Ours was a nickle and dime car, but took more than nickels and dimes.
lol You're probably right. I feel much the same about my Camaro but what are you to do lol.

OK on the CV thing, I looked it up:

The most tell-tale CV Joint symptom is a clicking sound that is apparent when you are turning. Doesn't do that at all.

A second symptom would be vibrations in your vehicle when you accelerate. Only does it when slowing or braking entirely. It's more of when you let off the brake.

Another CV Joint Symptom that may be apparent is a clunking sound that occurs when the gears on your vehicle change. No clunk sound at all.

So is this still possible?
 
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Old 09-12-2013, 12:49 PM
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If it's not making a worse noise when turning, then yeah I doubt it's the CV joints. Duct tape your husband to the hood, and take the car for a ride while he hangs his head near the right wheel to listen for the sound. Make sure the lug nuts are tight, for one. Then check to make sure the brake caliper is tight on the spindle.
 
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Old 09-12-2013, 12:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Camaro 69
If it's not making a worse noise when turning, then yeah I doubt it's the CV joints. Duct tape your husband to the hood, and take the car for a ride while he hangs his head near the right wheel to listen for the sound. Make sure the lug nuts are tight, for one. Then check to make sure the brake caliper is tight on the spindle.
LMAO I'd surely get a ticket! You hear it nice and loud while sitting in there. Sounds like it's in the passenger floorboard over near that right front. No it doesn't make any sounds but only when you're letting off the brake. It doesn't matter where you have the wheel turned. I have been telling him to jack the car up.
 
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Old 09-12-2013, 07:37 PM
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If the noise only comes when releasing the brakes, you might do a visual check of the lower control arm bushing or the strut mounting.

Its under tension when the brake is applied, release the brake and tension is removed, now just the weight of the corner is on the front suspension.

Checking the CV boots making sure there are no holes/slits in the boot. If there is grease spattered about the inner fender, CV boot is toast. They do sell split boots for replacement. I've done a couple and have had no failures with them providing the correct size/part number is installed. Use all the grease supplied. Also, ensure the axle nut is tight, generally 160 ft/lbs of torque on the nut - apply brakes and step onto the flex handle to tighten the nut.

On the RS, since you have had barrels full of rain, you might add a can/bottle of white gas for absorbing the water collected in the tank and run the tank next to empty, then fill tank with fresh gasoline and another can of white gas. Do this three tankfuls and I would wager the problem clears up.
 


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